Changing Degree Paths

[~*geNeRaTiOn E*~]

for a while now, i have had my heart set on going to law school and becoming a lawyer. now that i have taken a wide variety of classes, i'm not sure law is for me anymore. don't get me wrong, becoming a lawyer is still my ultimate dream but i don't really have as much time to dedicate as i think will be needed. my daughter is 2 y/o now and i love spending time with her and i know that law school will greatly reduce the amount of time i have with her as well as time i need to sleep, eat, breathe, etc. i really don't want that to happen

i am applying to my undergrad next fall but i really don't want to waste time and money on something i'm not going to fully pursue. a lot of people are pushing me to become a lawyer because they think i'll make a lot of money; that's not the reason i want to do it. i want to give something BACK to society. helping kids stay out of jail, fighting for the enviornment, helping businesses succeed, helping people better themselves; all things i'm interested in.

i just don't know what to do. should i continue to pursue my law degree or should i start over and go down a different path?

how did you know what career/field you wanted to join? how did you know it was "the one?"

 

[DG]

What about being a teacher? I always wanted to do that..I think a good teacher can make a child go in such a positive way towards life.

 

[brothermarcus]

if it's a career path that you can find both challange and pride in- go for it...

...just make sure you legitimately want to help people, and not satisfy some sense of chivalry or nobility- because the ingratitude of the masses wears at the soul of the individual that extends their hand. if it's about you or them they will destroy you, if it's about a commitment to the work itself they can't touch you.

 

[axion]

Make sure you can afford it, keeping in mind that if you want to help people you won't be a corporate lawyer earning $140k.

 

[protovack]

now that i have taken a wide variety of classes, i'm not sure law is for me anymore.

What about those classes made you think differently?

i am applying to my undergrad next fall but i really don't want to waste time and money on something i'm not going to fully pursue.

Do you mean you're applying to law school next fall?

i want to give something BACK to society. helping kids stay out of jail, fighting for the enviornment, helping businesses succeed, helping people better themselves;

You can do a lot of things with a law degree. Most law school grads will tell you that law school doesn't actually train you to be a lawyer!

how did you know what career/field you wanted to join? how did you know it was "the one?"

I didn't I just picked one. It wasn't a trivial process for me, but I don't feel at all like I was "destined" to do some specific thing. I chose medicine because I kinda sorta think I'd make a good doctor.

This is what it all came down to:

1. What is my personality type? INTJ - detail oriented, able to see multiple sides of a problem, and enjoy investigating multi-faceted situations

2. What do I want to do with my life? Something important and concrete that means something in daily life. I can't just have a 9-5 boring job and then have my real life on the weekends.

3. How much do I want to involve myself in my career? A lot. I have no problem devoting my life to a career as long as it is worthwhile. Lifestyle does have its place though.

4. What type of environment do I want to work in? Fast paced, but not insane. I want to work with a team. I don't want to work in a business where all that matters is the bottom line. I want to work with other smart people solving problems.

Then I brainstormed what types of jobs would satisfy all of these conditions. I settled on medicine because it's just cool, not because it is the only job that fits what I want to do. FBI investigator would probably fit my personality too...but that's not really something I'm interested in.

Sometimes being a lawyer is all about catching the bad guys. It's about catching liars in the act. My uncle is a lawyer and he gets a big rush from winning a case where the good guys win. He told me about a case where some business built 100 condo's with leaky roofs up in Vancouver BC. Well the homeowners sued and hired my uncle. He started his investigation and he learned that in fact, the construction company was from Cali and didn't know how to build waterproof condos. The company was trying to avoid paying damages to all the homeowners, but my uncle won the case and they had to pay to completely remodel every person's house.

I would recommend talking to some lawyers about what kind of law they practice. I think it is totally possible to get that feeling of satisfaction from helping people by practicing law. However youthful idealism usually fades, especially when you get into a professional career. There is the cliche of the pre-med student who wants "to help people." Then once you start practicing, you find there are many chronic, ungrateful patients who are a drain on the system, among other assorted hassles. A professional job is no different than anything else, in that there are issues that need to be dealt with. That should never stop you from pursuing your career though. I think it's probably true that if you CAN do something, you probably SHOULD. Otherwise later in life you'll always be saying, "I could have done this, this and this."

 

[~*geNeRaTiOn E*~]

Make sure you can afford it, keeping in mind that if you want to help people you won't be a corporate lawyer earning $140k.

when i first thought about becoming a lawyer, i wanted to be a defense attorney for juvenile delinquents. i can't tell you how many lives i have seen wasted because of one mistake made and the kid gets thrown into a facility or prison. then i changed my mind because i excelled in business studies. i wanted to be a corporate lawyer making $140k a year because i wanted my daughter to live a comfortable life. i realized i'd rather make far less money and be happy with what i'm doing than to have tons of money and be unhappy.

environmental law. something i can go into to help preserve natural habitats, to stop the corporate world from overtaking everything. not everyone wants a tall skyscraper in their backyard, i sure as hell don't. but am i passionate enough about teh environment to fight for it? maybe.

a teaching job would be great but i'm not a great teacher, i'm a great learner. i'm observant, assertive and opinionated. i think i would make a GREAT lawyer but again, time is an issue.

protovack, i think you're right. i should sit back and analyze my personality and find what fits ME and choose from there. i do want a career that is going to leave me satisfied in all aspects of life, including my financial state. my family is most important to me so i need to find something suitable to maintain everything. i think i'm just scared that if i do go into a law career, i won't be able to stay home with my kids like i planned. i definitely don't want to be a stay at home mom but i want to be able to have leisure time for myself and my family. i want to watch my kids grow and learn because it's the most rewarding thing in this world. my little girl is my life and i want the best for her but i also don't want to overwork myself and detract from the mother/daughter relationship that i cherish so much.

thanks for all of your input, it has given me a few things to think about.

 

[posner]

^^ Don't think that just because you get a law degree you wil make a lot of money. A lot of it depends on the market you live in and the type of organization you work for. The money (except for the plaintiffs' bar, which can be anomalous) is in the big firms.

Working in a large firm is no joke. They pay well, but they make you pay too. Your time is no longer your time. You want to plan something with your family or friends? Forget about it. Not going to happen. You don't want to work nights and weekends? I'm sorry. What about the long run? If you do happen to make partner, which is very very difficult in large firms, you will be working as much if not more than you did as an associate.

Life outside of a big firm---
You could work in public interest (high career satisfaction, low pay); small firms (more satisfaction than a large firm, less pay); business (in-house counsel jobs are basically impossible to get for recent law school graduates); government (more satisfying than a large firm, much less pay)

Business interest = corporate law (firm)???
-Not really. The fact that you maybe had an interest in or studied business does not at all correlate to working in a large firm (with corporate clients). The work is very particularized, highly detailed (you are often dealing with a 1/100 piece of a puzzle), and generally boring (particularly at the beginning).

Law school but not wanting to be a lawyer:

I would be wary. Although law school does help you develop important skills, law school does teach you how to be a lawyer. If you enter law school without wanting to practice you will (generally) have a less enjoyable and successful law school career.


You should only go to law school if you really want to. Talk to people who are attorneys and, if possible, attorneys in big firms, small firms, government, public interest, companies, etc. Law school is a huge time commitment and it costs a lot of money. Know what you are getting into before you commit and make sure you really want to go. If you are getting into it for the money, I would forget about it. You will be miserable and will have a rude awakening when you realize what you have to give up for it.

 

[Infinite Jest]

I was going to echo dreamgirlie19 and say be a librarian. Then I remembered that US librarians are really underpaid, and there aren't many jobs over there. [Not that pay is great here, but there are plenty of jobs....]. Someone like me could work in a law firm, get paid a reasonable amount and be doing interesting work, but still have more of a life than the actual lawyers. At the moment though, I'm all good working at the law school, no pressure, interesting work and lots of cute young women as clients

As for how I chose it: I looked for something that fitted my skills, interests and values. I like problem solving, I like helping people and being useful, and I like working with information. I also don't want to be a slave to work, and have to work long hours. Being a reference librarian fits all of those. (Plus, it's excellent practice for answering the same three questions over and over again on BL ).

 

[protovack]

i think i'm just scared that if i do go into a law career, i won't be able to stay home with my kids like i planned. i definitely don't want to be a stay at home mom but i want to be able to have leisure time for myself and my family.

My lawyer uncle went through law school before he had kids, so you'd probably have to work something out so that your kids would get the attention they need. I've heard the workload is pretty high.

But now as a practicing lawyer, he works 9-5 and takes three-day weekends. He has enough time to take his kids (both teens) to karate lessons and do all kinds of stuff. He does have his own practice so that is why his hours are so good. When he is at the office he definitely works, but he gets to leave at dinner time, unless they have a big court case coming up that week. He makes good money because he is half-owner of the practice, but he'd probably make way more in corporate law. He told me that his decision to quit working for a firm and start his own was very intentional. He wanted to make less money but have control over his life.

You can do whatever you want once you have the J.D.

Generation E, you should check out these forums: http://www.quarterlifecrisis.com/forums/

I don't know if you've read the book "Quarter Life Crisis" but there are a lot of young people on the official message board juggling life and family issues, and I know there are a few active posters who are either considering law school, attending law school, or already got their J.D...and they have lots of posts with all kinds of interesting advice in them. The forum members "Weirdbrake" and "Lawya Gal" seem to have alot of posts about the law school experience, and if you registered and posted your situation, I bet you would get a response from someone facing the same issue.

 

[Benefit]

Make sure you know what you're getting into before you dive into law school. It's demanding, and you're not guaranteed big money by any stretch of the imagination. posner's advice is sound.